Bobcat Distribution 



Information courtesy of the N.C Wildlife Resources Commission 



1955 North Carolina Bobcat Distribution 



1981 North Carolina Bobcat Distribution 



1996 North Carolina Bobcat Distribution 



North Carolina's economic boom in recent decades has encouraged 

 not only people but also bobcats to move in. 



not known, officials believe that the 

 cats are plentiful enough not to be 

 threatened by hunting and trapping. 



"You can have them around and 

 not know it," Sumner says. "It's 

 obvious they're expanding their range 

 because people are seeing them now." 



Even he is not immune to the 

 surprise of seeing bobcats that have 

 come out of hiding. While sitting in a 

 deer stand in Jones County in 1993, he 

 spotted five baby animals cavorting in a 

 path. His first thought was that 

 someone's boxer puppies had gotten 

 loose — then he saw the mother bobcat. 



Sumner believes that experiences 

 like his will become more frequent, but 

 people need not worry. 



"Encounters with bobcats are most 

 likely to be extremely brief with the 

 animal escaping quickly," he says. 

 "Any bobcat that does not immediately 

 leave should be treated as abnormal and 

 possibly rabid." 



He adds, though, that rabid bobcats 

 are rare. In the past few years in North 

 Carolina, there have been only a few 

 reports of bobcats with rabies biting 

 people or pets. 



In most cases, a bobcat would 

 rather flee the scene than stay and get 

 cozy with a human being — its only 

 real enemy. If human and bobcat do 

 tussle, the human is at a distinct 

 disadvantage. The compact and 

 muscular "wildcat" is the stuff of Wild 

 West legends: a ferocious fighter that 

 can fend off a whole pack of hunting 

 dogs. 



About three times the size of an 

 average house cat, the bobcat is more a 

 stocky wrestler than a sleek racer. The 

 smallest of the three native North 

 American wild cats, it weighs an 

 average of 22 pounds, though some 

 individuals in the northern part of the 

 range can reach 50 pounds or more. The 

 bobcat's body ranges from 12 to 18 

 inches high and 24 to 42 inches long, 

 with a stubby tail of 4 to 8 inches. That 

 cropped or "bobbed" tail is most likely 

 the reason for the cat's name. 



Scientists have identified 1 1 



20 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1996 



